Every top manager in the world will be linked with the Manchester United job over the next few weeks, but it could be the most obvious choice is already in place. Ryan Giggs.

Although there does not appear too much riding on the last four fixtures for United, from Giggs’s point of view this represents the perfect audition to prove he is the man to make the transition from dressing room to a permanent place in the dugout.

Manchester United have not played like Manchester United once this season. Yes, they had a few comfortable wins but not playing in the style we have been accustomed to in the past 20 years. If Giggs restores that dominance, the belief, the speed of passing and movement that has been so lacking and the swagger of old – starting against Norwich on Saturday – it will give the United board plenty to ponder.

Giggs does not, on the surface, have the extrovert personality you would immediately associate with a manager. During my time at Old Trafford, he was a quieter, more studious type. He would be the one sitting quietly in the corner, watching and observing while the more vocal personalities had their say.

If you had have asked me then which member of the Class of ’92 would be a future Manchester United manager, I would have said Gary Neville rather than Giggsy.

But there is a saying about possession being nine-tenths of the law, and now he is wearing the manager’s jacket it might not be so easy to get it off him. He will have seen at first hand what went so badly wrong under David Moyes and felt that burning desire to put it right. That determination to restore the United of Sir Alex Ferguson can be the catalyst for him to grow into the role and make sure the former manager’s legacy is preserved.

Those who point to lack of managerial experience should have a rethink. I do not buy the idea that players who have spent 25 years at one of the world’s most pressurised clubs need to go down the divisions to ‘learn their trade’ as a coach. What is the point of that?

With the greatest of respect, managing players in the lower leagues is not necessarily preparation for taking over at United. The demands and expectations are entirely different.

Apart from this season, Giggs has known only one manager at club level. His ideas and methodology will be influenced almost entirely by what he saw under Sir Alex. That is a body of knowledge to be envied and I would suggest the restoration of that sense of familiarity is exactly what the club need right now.

There are obviously plenty of world-class managers out there, but, just like Moyes, they will want to do it their own way, adopting the style that has brought them success elsewhere. There is no guarantee the next man will not encounter similar problems to Moyes.

For an example of a player completely indoctrinated by the ideals of his own club, making the step up from the pitch, to coach to manager, you need look no further than Pep Guardiola. When he was promoted to manage Barcelona’s senior side it was a case of evolving a tried and trusted formula, exactly what should have happened after the departure of Sir Alex.

United did not need to have a new blueprint as they had been the club everyone else were trying to copy for two decades.

That is where Moyes went so badly wrong from day one. Everything Sir Alex had done to maintain the success of recent years, focusing on managing the team while deferring to the expertise of others in different departments of the club, seemed to be dismantled. Moyes wanted to control everything to the point you can almost imagine him painting the white lines on the training pitch. United are too big to manage in that way.

The signings did not seem to reflect any strategy. Marouane Fellaini is a very good player in a more physical, direct style, but not a Manchester United one. Juan Mata is a No 10 who was played out wide where he lacks pace and physical presence. If Jose Mourinho did not think him good enough for Chelsea, you have to ask if United should have been cautious before investing so much in him.

What you need in the modern game is a vision, a sense of long-term direction whereby if you get a few difficulties early on in your reign the shoots of recovery are still identifiable. Players, supporters and board members will hold their nerve if they believe a dip is temporary. That is what happened to Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool last season. Results were poor early on but you could see what he was trying to achieve and the trajectory was upwards rather than static or, as in United’s case, downwards. They should be in the top four as a minimum requirement.

It is too easy to say a manager needs to be given time when it is going badly wrong and showing no obvious sign of getting better. The problem for Moyes is the manner of the defeat to Everton last weekend was every bit as bad as some of those earlier in the season.

For a side who won the title last season, have had £70 million spent on the squad since, and have one of the most exciting youngsters in the league in Adnan Januzaj coming through the ranks, you are entitled to expect far more.

Moyes is a good manager who will succeed elsewhere, but I believe United made the right decision at the right time to make a change, ensuring they can assess their options and have their manager in place ahead of another crucial summer.

If United do end up with Luis van Gaal or Carlo Ancelotti, they will represent solid, experienced choices, but it will be a case of buying into a new vision for the club. A vision that may prove to be successful but is not necessarily the same as that which brought so much success under Sir Alex.

If the view at the highest level of the club is the squad is not as bad as a seventh-place finish suggests, the players have been talked down too much and restoring the methods of Sir Alex will yield an instant improvement, Giggs must have an opportunity of removing the title ‘interim’ from his job description.

United’s last four games will not determine whether this season has been any good, but they could have a major influence on the direction of the next few years.